LET THE FESTIVAL BEGIN
KUSHNER ACCUSED OF NOT DISCLOSING OWNERSHIP
Jared Kushner allegedly failed to disclose his ownership interest in an online real estate investment company, according to an ethics complaint filed Thursday.
Per the complaint — filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington — to the Office of Government Ethics, President Trump’s adviser and son-in-law did not disclose his ownership of a “significant part” of Cadre, a technology company that he co-founded. Additionally, when he requested his certificate of divestiture, he failed to disclose his ownership interest in the company, resulting in the certificate being granted with incomplete information.
The certificate, which allows federal employees to defer capital gains taxes on property they sell to meet ethics codes, likely would compel Kushner to sell his interests.
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS OFFICE RESIGNS
The director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, who clashed repeatedly with President Trump, announced his resignation on Thursday.
Walter Shaub, who joined the office during the George W. Bush administration and then was ap- pointed as its head by President Obama in 2013, will leave July 19. He will join the Campaign Legal Center as its senior ethics director.
He has openly criticized President Trump for failing to relinquish ownership of his real-estate and licensing businesses.
JUDGE SENTENCED FOR VIOLATING TERMS OF ARREST
A City Court judge in New York was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in jail plus three years probation for violating the conditions of her sentence for a 2016 drunken-driving conviction.
Before Judge Leticia Astacio’s sentence was handed down, she told Judge Stephen Aronson of Canandaigua City Court that she had complied with everything the court had asked of her.
In February 2016, Astacio was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated. A state trooper testified he found Astacio’s SUV on the side of an interstate with extensive front-end damage and her side tires flat.
In August, she was found guilty of driving while intoxicated after a bench trial. Submitting to random drug tests and abstaining from alcohol were among the conditions of her sentence. In June, she was found guilty of violating those terms.